These print advertisements to promote the N-Gage phones of Nokia were banned by the Advertising Standards Authority. The ASA had received several complaints regarding the ads alleging that the ads are offensive and distressing in its depiction of violence and crime, especially to those who saw it in areas where they faced an increased possibility of assault. Acting on the complaints the advertisement watchdog ruled that the ads were ‘likely to cause serious or widespread offence or distress to readers’.
However, the strategy of the ad was to display locations where gaming was possible through the use of the phone system. And precisely this is the reason why the ads featured only locations, not the victims. The copy of the ads such as, ‘This is where they ran me down’ and ‘This is where I cried for help’ refer frustration level of a person playing games.
